Poverty Costs 2.0: Investing in Albertans is a follow-up report to the work presented in Poverty Costs: An Economic Case for a Preventative Poverty Reduction Strategy in Alberta (2012). Indeed the final chapter of the first Poverty Costs report outlines in a broad way, the kinds of policy driven components a comprehensive strategy to reduce poverty in Alberta would require. Sherri Torjman, an eminent social policy expert, has identified 10 “poverty policy” areas where provincial/territorial governments can create or improve upon existing policies and legislation with a view to preventing and reducing poverty.

Poverty Costs 2.0 groups these 10 policy areas into four overarching categories: sustenance, adaptation, engagement and opportunity. Poverty Costs 2.0 has benefitted from the input of numerous Albertans engaged in front-line service delivery, policy development and work in academic settings. Seventeen contributors have provided a brief synopsis on an area of poverty policy and included specific recommendations which if implemented would improve the lives of people living on low incomes. We believe the recommendations shared here, reflect the social policy goals and strategic directions recently articulated in Alberta’s Social Policy Framework.

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